Jezebel

Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, who was king of Israel from about 871 BC to about 852 BC. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon. Jezebel worshiped a pagan god called Baal and she helped to corrupt Israel with idol worship.

Jezebel was evil and influential. The prophets Elijah and Elisha blamed Jezebel more than Ahab for the persecution of God's prophets during that era. Jezebel's daughter, Athaliah, became Queen of Judah, and she too was evil.

Elijah prophesized that Jezebel would be torn apart by the dogs of Jezreel (1 Kings 21:23). After God perfomed a miracle on Mount Carmel, and the prophets of the false god, Baal, were killed, Jezebel vows to kill Elijah, and Elijah flees for his life.

Jehu is anointed to become a future King of Israel. He is told to destroy the family of Ahab, to avenge the murder of the Lord's prophets, and to avenge the deaths of other people killed by Jezebel. When Jehu sees Jezebel in a palace window, he called upon people in the palace to throw her down, and they threw her out of the window. And, as Elijah had prophesized, dogs then tore her body apart.

In the New Testament, in Revelation 2:20, Jezebel's name is used symbolically as a false prophetess who seeks to lure Christians into idolatrous practices. The story of Jezebel is found in 1 Kings, chapters 16, 18, 19, 21, and 2 Kings chapter 9.